A Comparison of Japanese and Taiwanese students’ Attitudes toward Cross-Cultural English-Learning Activities

Technological advancement pushes greater expansion of information worldwide, without constraints of boundaries and time. This is made possible through the varieties of English used by a vast number of non-English speakers all over the world. Introducing intercultural language learning and facilitating a cross-cultural learning environment are the language teacher’s new responsibilities; thus, continuing research in the relationship between language, technology, and students’ learning perceptions is vital. This article reports on the cross-national research results stemming from an intercultural project between university students from a Taiwanese university and a Japanese university. A web-based communication board, Nicenet, was utilized for cross-cultural communication exchange activities. The research results compared the students’ overall recognition and feelings toward English as a lingua franca between the control and experimental groups. The data analysis of this research revealed inconsistencies between students’ attitudes toward participation in the cross-cultural exchange project and their interest in intercultural learning.